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WY Antelope area 62 - South Ferris

Hello everyone.

I'm wondering if anyone has input of past experiences in this unit? I have a 62 type 1 tag in the pocket this fall and pretty stoked to hunt this unit. I've personally never hunted this area prior and just trying to get a sense of other's past experiences here. I'll be hunting solo and planning on tenting out in the prairies and have 9 days set a side for this tag. As most of us, I'm looking for that coveted 80" buck and NOT to just punch a tag on a "good" buck. Have any of you guys took a book class buck out of here?

I've spoke to the regional biologist and the two wardens in this area and they gave some very good information and locations to start. Know where the main ranchers are, where Ed Chipperfield guide out of and have all the BLM lands/roads loaded up in my GPS and have all the mapping data I need. Sounds like the herd numbers may be down a bit from the past but the horn grow is exceptionally good this year, which was good to hear.

Just looking for other peoples opinions in this area, possible road conditions, and your thoughts. Plan on hunting last week of Sept (which is 3rd wk of the lope season). There's only 40 tags issued so hopefully pressure is minimal. Preferably want to do this completely DIY on public land and avoid ranch access fees. There is a good amount of "checker board" land in south half of unit by Rawlins, anyone hunt this area? Any thoughts, suggestions, locations or comments would greatly be appreciated guys!

One of the largest antelope I have ever seen was in Unit 62. We were deer hunting.

You should have a great hunt. Trophy antelope hunting is normally all about putting in the time to sort through a mess of bucks.

Just some helpful hunting forum etiquette, when joining a forum, it's always best to first introduce yourself (new members section), then contribute for a while (give), then ask for info (take). That pretty much applies to avery forum I've posted on.

Welcome to the forum Green Back, that should be a good tag. Took you enough points to draw it!! Really cool that you have that many days to spend in the unit too. Good luck

"I love my country, I love my guns, I love my family, I love the way it is now, and anybody that tries to change it has to come through me, that should be all of our attitudes, cause this is America!!"
- Charlie Daniels

"Most democrats in WY are not like other democrats (they actually like babies, guns, and the constitution)"
- AT Hiker

For some unknown reason I have had a very polite post deleted from this thread. All that was on it was saying the OP had obviously done his homework and had the maps and equipment along with the time to have a good hunt. I then offered him good luck and to make sure and have chains for his vehicle if there happened to be any moisture out there during his hunt. This really surprised me when I was so nice to a first time poster, LOL! I sure wonder what the deal was on that one or whether may the website just had a hiccup!

Congrats on the great tag. I spent a good amount of time as a kid in this area as well as 55 and 61. I believe you have an excellent chance at an 80+ inch antelope if you can be patient enough. The challenge is not shooting the 15"-16", 77" bucks that you will likely see. Properly field judging antelope isn't easy even for the people that guide for a living. Remember, one essential key to a good scoring antelope is its mass. Many out there will have height and a decent prong but few will be really massive. My only BC buck is 14 & 7/8" tall but he has great mass and prongs. He was shot there in the desert years ago. Another weird thing about that area is that we seldom saw the very largest bucks with a herd- even during the rut. They were usually solitary or had just a handful of does. If its hot, be careful of snakes as there are a few rattle snakes in the area. If its rainy, some of the roads can really turn into really sticky mud- it cakes everything. Have a blast on the hunt and please post pictures for us!

I have family that has hunted that area there hole life from back in the day when you could draw a tag every year. Its a great area yes the population is down a bit but you should not have a problem finding an 80inch antelope with 9 days to hunt the south half is all checker board and bigger chunks of public land north. The last time i was there i did noy hunt but had three people in camp that did. we used gps hunt maps on our garmin gps's it worked great and was dead on everywere we were. The biggest antelope that we have got out of there was 80-83 i have heard of bigger ones in the are. should be a great year for that tag hope this helps good luck.

Thanks for all your input and responses guys, much appreciated. Feel pretty good about this tag in the pocket. Just hope for good weather and give her a go!

I'll give a hunt report and update upon returning home for others to reference in the future as this is considered a "blue chip" unit and is considered a premier goat country. Always difficult for a non-res to consider which tag to burn points on so I'm willing to share my experience to others.

I've hunted this unit a lot and played around mostly in the checkerboard stuff down closer to Rawlins. I agree, you won't have problems finding an 80+" goat.. and I also noticed that a lot of the big bucks weren't in herds like the others. It's a great area to hunt. Be careful of the roads though. Some super sandy and some super muddy! I've taken several bucks here.. My best one being 16" tall.